title: Reinsurance Group of America Vocabulary
description: Key terms and concepts used by Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) in its products, APIs, and services.
version: 1.0.0
modified: '2026-05-02'
terms:
  - term: Reinsurance
    definition: >-
      A practice by which an insurer transfers portions of its risk portfolio to another
      party (the reinsurer) to reduce the likelihood of paying a large obligation
      resulting from an insurance claim.

  - term: Cession
    definition: >-
      The process by which a primary insurance company transfers a portion of its risk
      to a reinsurer. The amount ceded is the cession.

  - term: Cedant
    definition: >-
      An insurance company that transfers risk to a reinsurer through a reinsurance
      arrangement. Also called the ceding company.

  - term: Risk Scoring
    definition: >-
      The quantification of underwriting risk based on electronic medical records,
      medical claims data, and other health data signals into a numeric score used for
      automated underwriting decisions.

  - term: Digital Health Data (DHD)
    definition: >-
      Structured electronic medical record and medical claims data used by RGA to
      derive actionable underwriting risk scores via real-time API.

  - term: Life Reinsurance
    definition: >-
      Reinsurance coverage for life insurance policies, transferring mortality risk
      from primary life insurers to RGA.

  - term: Health Reinsurance
    definition: >-
      Reinsurance coverage for health insurance policies, transferring morbidity risk
      from primary health insurers to RGA.

  - term: Underwriting
    definition: >-
      The process of evaluating the risk of insuring a person or asset, setting policy
      terms, and determining the premium to be charged.

  - term: Post-Issue Monitoring
    definition: >-
      Ongoing risk assessment of policies after they have been issued, using updated
      health data and claims information to identify changes in risk profile.

  - term: Triage
    definition: >-
      The initial underwriting screening process that uses automated risk scoring to
      determine whether an application warrants further review or can be decided
      automatically.

  - term: Living Benefits
    definition: >-
      Reinsurance solutions for products that provide benefits to policyholders who are
      still alive, such as critical illness, long-term care, and disability income.

  - term: Financial Solutions
    definition: >-
      RGA's capital markets, longevity risk management, and asset-intensive reinsurance
      products that help insurers manage balance sheet risk and capital requirements.

  - term: Retrocession
    definition: >-
      A reinsurance transaction where the reinsurer cedes some of its own accepted
      reinsurance risks to another reinsurer (the retrocessionaire).

  - term: Quota Share
    definition: >-
      A type of reinsurance treaty where the ceding insurer gives up a fixed percentage
      of all premiums and losses in exchange for a proportional share of reinsurance
      protection.

  - term: Excess of Loss
    definition: >-
      A non-proportional reinsurance type where the reinsurer pays losses that exceed
      a specified retention limit up to a maximum coverage amount.